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Since pot smoking was legalized in Washington and Colorado in 2012, there’s been no end of media coverage. One of the latest bits, by Maroosha Muzaffar, appeared recently in the Education Life supplement in The New York Times. (Unfortunately, there’s no link available.)

Muzaffar writes that The University of Colorado-Boulder has had a “campus smokeout” on April 20 for more than 10 years, with more than 10,000 attendees. The group would light their joints, or bongs, I suppose, at 4:20 p.m. on the nose, in unison with other pot smokers around the world. 

Last year, though, the university cracked down. It sprayed fertilizer that smelled like fish and closed the campus to the public, and posted police in SWAT gear. The same accompaniments were planned for this year (minus the fertilizer). The authorities were worried that people will come from other states to enjoy their seemingly greater freedom this year.

However, a school representative was quick to remind people that the amendment does not allow smoking in public and there’s still a federal ban on pot. He said that the school was worried about safety and the disruption of campus activities.

I had to think about the headline accompanying Muzzafar’s piece for a minute—“10,000 Tokes Over the Line?” It took that long to realize that it was a takeoff on the title of a 1970s song by Brewer and Shipley -- “One Toke Over the Line” that was pretty popular during that decade. Readers of a certain age undoubtedly remember the song that began:

“One toke over the line sweet Jesus / One toke over the line / Sittin' downtown in a railway station / One toke over the line”

When I checked the news on 4/21, it turned out that the college officials had closed the campus in an effort to deter the smoke-in. (It wasn’t clear in the first article that they were planning to go that far.)  As a result, celebrants assembled at Civic Center Park in Denver instead, and there were two shots fired. (These types of gatherings are held throughout the country every year on April 20—who knew?). 

NBC News reported that three people were wounded at the park and commented that “The shootings came at a sensitive time for Colorado marijuana activists, who are closely watching proposals from state lawmakers on the rules that will govern the sale of small amounts of pot to people 21 and older.” 

There’s news on the general smoking front as well, from HealthDay: “Genes May Dictate Teens' Susceptibility to Heavy Smoking”, but I’m wondering if the information isn’t obvious. In a four-decade long study conducted in New Zealand, researchers found that teens who scored high on a genetic risk profile and tried smoking at age 15 were more likely to get hooked than teens who didn’t score as high and tried smoking later. Somehow I would expect this because it sounds so similar to what happens with drinking—the earlier you start, the greater the chance you’ll get hooked.

The genetic risk profile wasn’t explained but it sounds like it hinges on whether the teens’ parents smoked. We know there’s some genetic correlation when it comes to drinking.

Still, as I’ve found with so many studies that seem self-evident, the purpose of some research studies may be to back up what someone think is true, so who am I to criticize?

Before the election I was so worried about my candidate losing that the marijuana issue was relegated to the back of my mind. So it was a shock to read, the morning of November 8^th, that Colorado and Washington residents voted in favor of smoking pot recreationally.

This event has brought up so many issues that I hardly know where to begin. Many of them relate to a comparison between marijuana and alcohol, and whether one is more harmful than the other.
Some people have compared the results of the vote to prohibition, according to The New York Times article. Then there are the political and economic arguments that legalizing marijuana will help reduce the dangerous and illegal drug trade and free up law enforcement resources. 

Articles with titles such as “Marijuana Tourism Looms Large After Election Results” are also appearing, although this AP article on MSN notes that that’s really speculation. In any event, it was news to me, and probably others, that there will be a waiting period before the changes take effect. It will take a month for the change to be put into effect, and then state officials must write “rules, tax codes, and other regulations” for state-licensed retail marijuana shops to be opened. 

I also didn’t realize that this occurrence clashes with federal laws, and specifically the Justice Department. A Seattle police chief said there’s no danger the D.E.A will rush in to enforce the federal law in these two states, but the U.S. Attorney General refuted that.

You know I couldn’t end this post without including comments from an addiction specialist. I easily found an OPED by addiction psychiatrist Ed Gogek, who practices in Prescott, AZ, and is also a board member of Keep AZ Drug Free there. (I don’t know how long the link will be active, so won’t include it. There was lots of good information when I checked, though.)

Gogek, a Democrat himself, says: “…Democrats should think twice about becoming the party of pot. I’m a lifelong partisan Democrat, but I’ve also spent 25 years as a doctor treating drug abusers, and I know their games. They’re excellent con artists.”

He notes that many people who use marijuana for pain relief can fake pain, and it’s hard to prove them wrong. He goes on to say, “It’s possible that they all really do need pot to help them. But consider this: pain patients are mostly female, whereas a recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that adult cannabis abusers were 74 percent male.”

And if we need to be reminded that teenage pot use has increased 40% in four years, and heavy use – 20 times a month or more – has increased 80 percent. So he’s worried about the message this election result sends to teens -- that it’s OK to indulge and there are no consequences, yet recent research indicates pot smoking permanently lowers IQ.

The next day brought letters to the editor. One was from a representative from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws who is also coauthor of “Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?” She noted that surveys by respected pollsters have found that a majority of Americans are for legalizing pot smoking within a “system of limited legalization and regulation.” A second letter calls legalization “a lesser evil,” and a third, from a psychotherapist who has treated addiction and is himself a recovering addict, said that “to focus the debate on the degree to which [pot] is harmful … is ridiculous. Of course it is harmful and of course it is addictive.”

So the future should be interesting.

I’ve written about marijuana in several posts such as Marijuana, the Most Commonly Used Drug  (May 2011) and The Controversy Over Legalizing Marijuana (June 2012). But pot is constantly in the news (as are most drugs, right?), and two items from last month might interest you.

First, as if there’s not enough of a controversy about pot smoking, in August a few Moms admitted in print to doing it. One wrote a jazzy essay on the popular women’s site Jezebel. Also, on TodayMoms, an NBC news site, a headline almost shouted Pot-smoking Moms Tired of Being Judged by Wine Drinkers.

Sounds like these women want their 15 minutes of fame and this is their way of getting it. They’ve found something edgy, and like some of the authors of the Details magazine articles I mentioned in my last post, they ran with it. Not that I don’t believe them -- pot smoking is so rampant today that these women are documenting what’s really happening. As one of them pointed out, it wasn’t long ago that articles were appearing about Moms drinking during play dates.

I was socializing with several colleagues recently and learned that one had been stoned on pot all through college. Yet another said she still smoked every day. I almost fell off my barstool. As if I needed more proof that this “harmless” drug is so prevalent. I had no idea. By the way, yes, we were drinking, which I’ve called the most socially acceptable form of substance abuse. But none of us drinks to excess, as far as I know, so I’m not being hypocritical. I’ve also said that marijuana also seems to be just as socially acceptable, lately, which is part of the impetus to legalize it.

Recently, Steven Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen’s band, said in a New Yorker article that Bruce has never taken drugs. Ever. It has to do with his father being bipolar, if I remember correctly, and Bruce’s fear of having inherited a tendency toward the disorder. I would never have guessed that about the man who is an icon in an industry known for rampant drug abuse.

Also last month, in news on ABC TV about a study done in New Zealand, viewers learned that kids who frequently smoke pot before age 18 experience a decrease in intelligence, specifically, an “eight-point drop between the ages of 13 and 38.”  The people in the study smoked at least four times a week and were studied over two decades. Those who didn’t smoke during those years gained a point.

The lead researcher said, “Collectively, these findings are consistent with speculation that cannabis use in adolescence, when the brain is undergoing critical development, may have neurotoxic effects.” So much for what another friend of mine said to me recently—“They say it’s not as bad as drinking alcohol.”

Despite the study’s findings, I bet if you ask most kids who are heavy pot smokers, they’ll tell you that they just don’t care. If only this study could make a difference. Somehow.

Connecticut has become the latest state to legalize pot for medical use, the New York Times reported. I knew that smoking pot helps those who suffer from cancer, but the article mentioned that it also helps those who suffer from glaucoma, AIDS, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.

Another article reminded me that there’s a whole other side to the controversy, that it should be legalized for recreational use, and a holiday to boot. Every year, on April 20, groups of marijuana aficionados have a party. Supporters would like to see everyone be allowed to smoke it, saying that there’s a growing acceptance of the practice (at least in some polls). Colorado and Washington will be voting on this in the fall. (See below.)

Opponents of pot smoking are not too happy about these events, of course, including the federal officials that have stepped up their enforcement efforts. Recently federal drug agents raided Oaksterdam U., a training school for those wanting jobs in the marijuana industry. Very interesting site, but it wasn’t accessible the second time I tried it. Probably not a coincidence after the raid, right?

Obama, too, is linked to marijuana in the news—specifically, what’s going on in Colorado. Here’s a recent Reuters headline: Marijuana could make or break Obama in Colorado. He has said he once smoked marijuana but noted that he could see he was headed nowhere and stopped. “Junkie. Pothead. That’s where I’d been headed; the final fatal role of the would-be black man,” the NYT quoted him as saying in “Dreams From My Father.”

I didn’t know, until reading the Reuters article, how harsh a stand his administration has taken on medical marijuana dispensaries, “which 17 states and the District of Columbia allow.” But the debate goes beyond medical use in Colorado:

“At issue is whether Obama will get a boost from young voters expected to be among the most enthusiastic backers of a Colorado ballot initiative that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of pot for recreational use - and give the state the most liberal marijuana law in the nation.”

I’m not one for politics, but… talk about another election issue. The article said that a year ago a full 49% of Colorado residents favored legalizing pot. The issue seems more significant that many people may realize.

And, of course, along with the article on Obama was a link to another Reuters article, about a stupid act someone committed after smoking pot. A 19-year-old woman left her 5-month old baby atop her car in a baby car seat and drove away after smoking pot with her boyfriend in a park. Luckily another person found the baby, who was unhurt. I don’t know how; I shudder at the image of what could have happened.

Have other people made a similar mistake while not under the influence? Especially 19-year-olds? I don’t recall any, but it could have happened. Yes, she faces criminal charges. You hope that this is enough of a wakeup call so she’d want to make some life changes. And by the way, she was on her way to buy beer when it happened.

Just yesterday another friend was noting how many people smoke pot. It seems an astronomical number do. Kids do today, surely, but my friend and I both know many people in their 50’s who do, too. I’d like to see a hard-hitting editorial from an expert on what’s wrong with smoking pot. It can never hurt to be reminded.

I’ve been writing about alcohol and prescription pill abuse so often that I haven’t given marijuana its due.

As NIDA reports, it’s “the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States.” It’s not that I haven’t been hearing about pot (or weed, skunk, Acapulco gold, tea, reefer, or any of the other terms it’s known by).  This MSN video reported that pot use is up among baby boomers these days.  

I occasionally discuss marijuana use with other parents since I have a 21-year-old. Although statistics say the numbers have been decreasing, pot smoking seems to be popular with the younger crowd in my area. Opinions among parents I’ve polled seem to run the gamut from “Everyone does it at that age. They’ll grow out of it” to true concern.

A counselor recently told me that today's pot is different from what the flower children of the 1960’s smoked. For one thing, it’s stronger today, which led her to believe it really does qualify as a “gateway” drug. She said that who are experimenting often think, “Wow, if I feel so good on this stuff, I wonder what a different drug might get me.” I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s scary.

Then there’s the standard body of thought that daily use can lead to “suboptimal functioning,” to quote NIDA again. The organization also holds that long-term use can lead to addiction, or at least to increased anxiety and depression.

In my local paper today, a 20-year-old  that attended high school with my son was arrested along with his parents for having a large cache of marijuana. The man’s brother, in a nearby town, was also arrested and charged with intent to distribute and other crimes. He had a number of guns in his house and $15,000. The 20-year-old and his parents could get seven years in prison, the article said. The 27-year-old brother, who had already been jailed for distributing pot, was expected to get up to 26 years.

Pot can decimate lives, too.